Hope
by Go-Colts
Summary: When all is lost, a boy will find the strength within to become a hero and leave the world with its most necessary possession: Hope. ZuTaracharacter death.


A/N—Please read and review. I might keep writing one-shots of _Avatar_ if they are popular!

**Hope**

_Armageddon's Eve_

"Ozai." It was nothing more than a whisper. _He_ had come for him. _He _had come to end this war. 'Either way,' thought the fire lord, 'either way this war is ending.' Slowly, he turned around.

"So you've come at last. The Avatar, the last airbender, the last obstacle between the fire nation and a world swathed by fire, the strongest of the elements; and to think, you're just a boy." Aang looked at the fire lord with hardened eyes that began to show a semblance of his true age. The past year had aged the Avatar well beyond his physical appearance.

"It ends here."

"Yes, it ends here." And fire enveloped the room as a scream pierced through the calm, night air. The elements swirled together and exploded. His skin nearly scorched off, Aang fought on with bitter resilience. He wasn't fighting for his life anymore; he was fighting for his friends…and his enemies. He was fighting for the world. He was fighting for memories of happier days.

**x.x--Flashback--x.x**

"Come on, Katara! Trust me!" said Aang, jumping off the cliff again with his glider. His voice echoed with joy under cerulean skies as he zoomed upwards with the air beneath him.

"Aang, I'm telling you! That glider might not be able to—ahhhhhhhh," she screamed as Aang charged at her and swept her off her feet. As she opened her eyes and looked down, she could only mouth a 'wow' at the picturesque scene below her. The radiant sun reflected off the crystal clear waters. It was heaven on earth.

**End Flashback**

Another fireball whizzed by his head, followed by blue lightning. Dodge, parry, dodge, retaliate. It was too predictable. He had to change his strategy. 'To defeat the enemy, make him defeat himself.' Iroh taught him that. Aang remembered the day his mentor and Zuko joined their party all too well. It reinforced his hope again, knowing that the Fire nation had people who did not believe in their cause. He also remembered Iroh talking of his brother's unyielding pride.

"What's wrong? You can't even hit a little boy?" With a yell of rage, Ozai began launching his attack and a more frantic pace. He was beginning to get sloppy in his rage; yet, that did not stop a stray fireball from scorching Aang's shoulder. His yell brought a laugh from the fire lord.

"Foolish boy. This isn't a game—this is war, and in war people die." The words hit home.

**x.x--Flashback--x.x  
**

"No, you can't!" Azula held Sokka by the throat, ready to end his life.

"Come with me, Avatar, and I'll spare the water tribe scum."

"Aang! No! If you go, the world dies!" Sokka yelled before Ty Lee covered his mouth.

"What's the world without friendships? I'll go with you. Just…let him go." Azula smirked.

"That's more like it. Tie him up." Mai emotionlessly subdued the Avatar. Ty Lee left Sokka to disable Aang and his companions' bending, tapping the crucial pressure points as their arms drooped limply beside them.

"Okay, let Sokka go." Azula's smile grew wider.

"Foolish boy. This isn't a game—this is war, and in war people die." She put her face closer to the Avatar's and sadistically grinned. "And wars have casualties." She held up her right hand as blue lightning cut through Sokka's skin and burned him to the core. A piercing scream rang through the night as Aang's brave companion breathed his last.

Aang's eyes widened as the arrow on his head began to glow. When he snapped out of the Avatar state, the forest around him was leveled and Azula was nowhere to be found.

**End Flashback**

"Ah, this is how it should be—the Avatar at the mercy of the most superior element." Ozai looked down and smirked at the defeated boy beneath him. "Don't worry. I'm not going to kill you. You'll stay alive…barely." The words brought about a sense of déjà vu for Aang. That's what Zhao had told him before the Blue Spirit came to the Avatar's rescue. The Blue Spirit…Zuko had rescued him. In the blink of an eye, he knew what he had to do. With blinding speed, he whipped out his only weapon, a small, curved knife that Zuko had given him as a peace offering.

The fire lord gave a cacophonous laugh. "You think you can beat me with a small knife? In your state?" Aang, though physically defeated, looked up and stared the master of fire in the eye, never breaking his gaze.

"Yes, I'll stop you," he whispered and plunged the knife through his chest. With one last breath, Aang smiled, knowing that there would at least still be hope.

**Elsewhere**

"He's still not back yet. I just wish we could have gone with him. That poor boy snuck off without even saying goodbye." It was Iroh talking to his nephew who was at Katara's side.

"He did what he had to. Isn't that what you taught us, Uncle? That true courage is fighting for what you believe in even when you know you can't win, but you do it anyway to protect the people you care about? Besides, he knew that Katara was pregnant." Beneath his cold demeanor, Zuko cared, and his uncle knew it. The girl had changed Zuko's whole perception on life…she healed him, both physically and emotionally. Now, she was huffing in pain as the doctor's around her began to bring her baby into the world.

"Do you think Aang won?" asked Toph, sensing a change in the tides. In all honesty, most of the gang believed Aang had left on a suicide mission. He just wasn't ready…his firebending was mediocre at best. Her question was met with silence as everyone stared at Katara's baby. "What's going on?" asked Toph, sensing the vibrations in the ground coming to a halt.

"He did what he had to," said Zuko, a lone tear falling from his eye. His son, the unification of fire and water and the symbol for peace, cried as the arrow on his head continued to glow.

Aang was dead, but he left the world with hope, and those who witnessed it could do nothing but weep.

**A/N**—In case I didn't explain the point well enough, Aang killed himself so that he could be reincarnated. Remember, in the episode "The Blue Spirit", Commander Zhao said he couldn't kill the Avatar because he would just be born again, so the best option would be to keep him alive…barely.

Anyway, did you like it? If I get enough feedback for this story, I'll continue writing _Avatar_ one shots.


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